We believe in one God the Father all powerful, maker of all things both seen and unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten begotten from the Father, that is from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made with the Father, through whom all things came to be, both those in heaven and those in earth; for us humans and for our salvation he came down and became incarnate, became human, suffered and rose up on the third day, went up into the heavens, is coming to judge the living and the dead. And in the holy Spirit.
We now think of God in the form of a trinity of beings as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Most Christian believe this was established in Biblical times and was preached by the disciples and broadcast by people who formed his followers. What is the theological foundation for this belief of the multiple single God? Doesn’t this belief in a triple God challenge the concept on monotheism? And how was this decided upon?
By 325 A.D. The Roman Emperor Constantine had become tired of all the theological squabbling and decided to put an end to it. He called 1800 Bishops to attend and 300 Bishops came to decide the various issues in Nicaea (attendance figures differ between the three bishops who offered numbers) on one side he had the Catholic Church who claimed all three were of the same flesh and comprised the same being. In addition all three of them had existed forever and had always been God. In Alexandria the Archbishop Arias proposed that while they were essentially the same there were differences and that Jesus had been “begotten” rather than having always existed. St. Alexander of Alexandria claimed that no they were of the same substance and had always existed. Arius was supported by followers such as Eusebius of Nicomedia who was a supporter of Arias but some of his writing was seen as blasphemous. The followers of Arias were labeled under “Arianism”. The opposition known as “Homoousianism” was represented by St. Alexander who quoted among other verses John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.” They also quoted John 17:21 “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in three, that they also may be one in us: That the world may believe that thou has sent me.”
For about a month all of the issues were debated between the different sides. Arius maintained that Jesus was a creature made from nothing and that there was a time when he had not existed. Using scripture he used citing John 14:28 “The Father is greater than I.” and Colossians 1:15 “Firstborn of all creation.”
The Homoiousian’s had proposed a compromise that God and the Son were alike but this was dropped during the debates. In the end it was declared that the Father and the Son were alike but not of the same substance as expressed by the Apostles. This formed the basis for the Nicene Creed. The creed was a variation of other creeds in use at the time such as The Apostles Creed. Where it was settled that Jesus was of the same substance as the Father. They also settled the question of when Easter was to be celebrated. Possibly it was agreed and signed on because Constantine threatened to banish anyone who did not sign and three including Arias were banished to Illyria. Arias was forgiven by Constantine who insisted that he be reinstated but died, possibly of poison, as he was returning
So now you have an idea of why we think of God as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (or Spirit). It is not because it was written in the Bible. It was not based on Jesus stating this. It was not based on any commandment from God. It is because approximately 300 men gathered at a council in Nicea, talked it over (some times rather loudly shouting at each other) and voted on it. Thus the monotheistic God of the Hebrews was now three Gods or one in three form.
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